Hyatt is billing its newly announced promotion as "The Next Big Thing".

Next, yes. Big thing? Well ...

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What it is, certainly, is an attempt to get traction with travelers at a time when demand is soft and every major hotel chain is offering one or more promotions to fill empty hotel rooms.

Most notable about the new Hyatt promotion is that it offers Gold Passport members a choice of rewards for stays between October 1, 2009, and January 31, 2010: one free night after every two stays; or 3,000 bonus points for the second and subsequent stays. The free nights must be taken between October 15, 2009, and March 31, 2010.

Infrequent travelers should note that both offers require two or more stays. No multiple stays, no rewards.

Frequent travelers, on the other hand, will be pleased to find that every stay during the promotion period will count double toward earning elite status in Hyatt's program.

Deal or No Deal

The choice of offers is a nice touch, although neither option is a standout in today's aggressive promotional environment. With so many competing hotel bonuses on offer, Hyatt will have to be more generous or more creative, or both, if it wants to stand out from the crowd.